FROM A SLAVE TO A BILLIONAIRE

Chapter 1 - Shattered Dreams

The sky was mocking her again.

Gray, heavy, suffocating.

Seo Hana wiped her hands on the threadbare apron, biting back the sting in her eyes. She wasn't allowed to cry. Not anymore. Tears were a luxury for people with choices.

She had none.

In the tiny apartment she called home, the scent of burnt ramen and bleach clung to the walls. Her two stepsisters lounged on the couch, scrolling their phones like queens, while she scrubbed their dirty dishes with numb fingers.

"Hana! My nails are chipped! Fix them before dinner, okay?" sneered Ji-Yeon, her older stepsister, tossing a bottle of nail polish onto the floor like it was garbage.

"Are you deaf now, maid?" added Eun-Ji, her younger sister, smirking as she slurped noodles. "You should be grateful we let you live here."

Grateful?For what?For giving up university? For working double shifts at the convenience store just to pay their bills?

Hana swallowed the lump in her throat. She reminded herself—again—that this was temporary. That one day, she'd find her way back to her dreams.

But dreams were for the rich. For the protected. For girls who didn't have to count bruises hidden under their sleeves.

That night, as the apartment turned silent, Hana stared at the stars from the tiny balcony.

"I'm not going to die like this," she whispered to the sky, voice trembling. "I won't."

But fate had other plans.

The very next morning, Ji-Yeon and Eun-Ji dragged her to a black car parked in the alley.

"You said you wouldn't mess up, Hana," Ji-Yeon hissed, pushing her forward.

"What is this—"Before Hana could finish, the car door opened.

A man in a tailored suit stepped out, his lips curling into something that wasn't quite a smile.

"You're prettier than they said," he said, running a cold gaze over her trembling body. "You belong to me now."

Hana's blood turned to ice.

They had sold her.Like an object.To a stranger.

"Take her," the man ordered.

Rough hands grabbed her wrists.

That was the moment Seo Hana's world shattered for good.

Or so she thought.

Because fate, cruel as it was, wasn't done with her yet.